Tony Elumelu, the Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, has urged African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Heads of State to improve the business environment in their countries in order to drive industrialisation and wealth creation.
Elumelu who is also the Chairman of the United Bank for Africa and Heirs Holdings said this whilst presenting the keynote speech on the theme “Industrialisation and Private Sector Engagement for Economic Transformation of ACP States” at the Presidential Dialogue of the 9th ACP Business Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.
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Elumelu stated that industrialisation will not be achieved without support for Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SMEs) and improved access to electricity.
“We cannot hope to industrialise if we do not fix the issue of power. If our entrepreneurs are spending so much of their resources to power their businesses, how are they expected to make the investments necessary to upgrade and industrialise? If we do not tackle these pertinent issues, we will be unable to achieve industrialisation, wealth creation and poverty reduction,” he said.
He highlighted infrastructural development as another critical area needed to achieve sustainable development, highlighting the key role the United Bank for Africa Group plays in achieving this.
“UBA is a force for development in Africa through infrastructure investment and is leading the way in cross border payments and services, with the objective of encouraging trade across the continent,” he said.
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Whilst citing the impact of the flagship Entrepreneurship Programme of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Elumelu highlighted the critical role partnerships between the private and public sectors, as well developmental organisations, play in achieving industrialisation.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation, a private-sector-led philanthropy, is on a mission to catalyse the economic transformation of the continent by empowering young African entrepreneurs – over 7,500 beneficiaries across 54 African countries thus far – through its Entrepreneurship Programme.
He said: “To date, we have 497 beneficiaries in Kenya, 596 in Uganda, 187 in Tanzania and 194 in Rwanda. This brings the total number of TEF Entrepreneurs in East Africa so far to 1,474, so far. Organisations such as the UNDP, African Development Bank, the ICRC, and GIZ have helped increase the number of young entrepreneurs we can support.”
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The President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta shared the same approach to development as he highlighted his country’s private-sector-focused plan which has propelled Kenya’s ease of doing business ranking from 129th position out of 190 economies in 2013 to the 56th position in 2019.
President Kenyatta said: “Our young people are tech-savvy and indeed with a huge entrepreneurial spirit. They are ready to embrace the digital revolution. We are experiencing a flourishing digital innovation ecosystem which can stimulate the rate of growth of ICT and technology innovations, and nurture vibrant tech start- ups and incubator hubs as Tony [Elumelu] has mentioned, for those young men and women he has supported through his family and Foundation”.
In closing, Elumelu stressed the importance of including women in the development agenda of the ACP region, commending the European Investment Bank (EIB), for its initiative “She Invest”, which is focused on mobilising 1 billion Euros for women across Africa.
“We at the Tony Elumelu Foundation strive to reach the same goals of uplifting women out of poverty and empowering them with knowledge and resources. This is an invitation to join forces as we have done with the UNDP to lift 100,000 young African boys and girls out of poverty, thereby stemming migration challenges,” he said
Bilateral talks
Kenyatta who is the new chairman of ACP held bilateral talks with several leaders who attended the Nairobi Summit.
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Among the leaders the President hosted at State House included President Faustin-Archange Touadera of the Central African Republic, the Prime Minister of Eswatini Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, Vice President Bornito de Sousa of Angola.
The President also held talks with European Union commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen
The meetings came shortly after President Kenyatta took over the chairmanship of the ACP .
In the first meeting, the Kenyan leader held talks with President Touadera who assured him of his country’s total support as he takes over the leadership of the 79-member bloc.
President Kenyatta and Vice President de Sousa of Angola discussed the possibility of increasing Kenya Airways flights to Luanda as a way of deepening trade ties between Kenya and the Southern Africa nation.
While responding to a request by the Angolan VP for Kenya’s help in expanding his country’s nascent tourism sector, the President welcomed Angolans to train in the country’s tourism colleges which he termed as “some of the best training institutions in the world”.
The Ewastini Prime Minister said his country is also eyeing to benefit from Kenya’s centres of excellence especially in agriculture, tourism and agro-processing among other fields.
Prime Minister Dlamini said his government is keen to develop trade and people to people ties with Kenya, adding that the kingdom welcomes Kenya Airways to start direct flights to Mbabane.
President Kenyatta thanked the PM Dlamini for his country’s long standing solidary with Kenya in multilateral fora saying Kenya is keen on growing deeper ties with the kingdom for the mutual benefit of the people of the two sister nations.
In his meeting with the European Union delegation, the President Kenyatta said it is important that trade agreements between the EU and ACP should be balanced and mutually beneficial deals.
“The key is to advance mutually beneficial and inclusive agreements that are agreeable and takes care of interests of both parties. We need a scenario where everyone feels like a winner,” the President said.
Commissioner Urpilainen said the European Union will continue supporting Kenya to achieve its development aspirations including the Government’s Big 4 Agenda focus areas of universal health coverage, food security, manufacturing and affordable housing.
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“We can work together to see how we can enhance European investments in Kenya and the ACP in general,” the EU Commissioner told the President.
She said the EU is especially keen on supporting Kenya harness the immense entrepreneurial potential of its youth by supporting business start-ups and the Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises (MSME’s).
